GLASGOW // An independent Scotland would keep Queen Elizabeth II as its monarch but create its own defence force, the nationalist leader Alex Salmond said on Tuesday as he unveiled detailed proposals ahead of next year’s referendum.
Launching his regional government’s long-awaited “white paper” on independence, Mr Salmond said he could build a “wealthier and fairer nation” if Scots vote next September to end the 300-year-old union with London.
“We’d become independent in more promising circumstances than virtually any other nation in history,” said Mr Salmond, the first minister.
“Ultimately at the heart of this debate there is only one question and one choice: do we, the people who live and work in Scotland, believe that we are the best people to take decisions about Scotland’s future?”
Among the proposals in the 670-page tome, an independent Scotland would take 90 per cent of revenues from the North Sea oil reserves lying off its shores and would no longer play host to Britain’s Trident nuclear deterrent, both highly contentious issues.
An independent Scotland would continue to use the pound as its currency, but would ditch the BBC as its national broadcaster.
With 10 months to go until the vote, Mr Salmond’s Scottish National Party (SNP) is struggling to convince Scots, about 38 per cent are currently planning to vote for independence, according to a Panelbase survey for the Sunday Times, while 47 would vote against.
Mr Salmond insisted there was a strong economic case for independence and that Scotland’s “immense” natural resources would guarantee a prosperous future.
His deputy, Nichola Sturgeon, said the document “puts beyond any doubt that Scotland can afford to be independent”.
But Mr Salmond said the new country would also have to tackle a “legacy of debt, low growth and social inequality” bequeathed to it by the London government.
The white paper sets out Mr Salmond’s vision of how he believes independence would affect Scots, from taxation and pensions to welfare, education and defence.
Britain’s former finance minister Alistair Darling, who is leading the “no” campaign, said it was “complete fantasy to believe that you can leave the UK but keep all the benefits of being part of it”.
“This document will be judged on its credibility,” he said.
“No one is going to tell me that all the good things will stay north of the border and all the bad things will go to the south.”
Danny Alexander, Britain’s Chief Secretary to the Treasury, warned Mr Salmond that under independence the average basic-rate taxpayer in Scotland would face a tax rise of £1,000 (Dh5,950) a year by the end of the decade.
“This is a very stark reminder of why it is in the interest of Scotland to pool these risks, not go it alone,” he said.
Scots will be able to request a hard copy of the white paper, and it will also be available to read online.
The document plans for Scotland to celebrate its independence day on March 24, 2016 and hold its first parliamentary elections in May 2016.
March 24 marks the anniversary of the signing of the Acts of Union in 1707, which joined Scotland and England into a single kingdom.
Company profile
Company name: Ogram
Started: 2017
Founders: Karim Kouatly and Shafiq Khartabil
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: On-demand staffing
Number of employees: 50
Funding: More than $4 million
Funding round: Series A
Investors: Global Ventures, Aditum and Oraseya Capital
Sweet Tooth
Creator: Jim Mickle
Starring: Christian Convery, Nonso Anozie, Adeel Akhtar, Stefania LaVie Owen
Rating: 2.5/5
Sarfira
Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal
Rating: 2/5
Company Profile
Company name: Namara
Started: June 2022
Founder: Mohammed Alnamara
Based: Dubai
Sector: Microfinance
Current number of staff: 16
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Family offices
How to get exposure to gold
Although you can buy gold easily on the Dubai markets, the problem with buying physical bars, coins or jewellery is that you then have storage, security and insurance issues.
A far easier option is to invest in a low-cost exchange traded fund (ETF) that invests in the precious metal instead, for example, ETFS Physical Gold (PHAU) and iShares Physical Gold (SGLN) both track physical gold. The VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF invests directly in mining companies.
Alternatively, BlackRock Gold & General seeks to achieve long-term capital growth primarily through an actively managed portfolio of gold mining, commodity and precious-metal related shares. Its largest portfolio holdings include gold miners Newcrest Mining, Barrick Gold Corp, Agnico Eagle Mines and the NewMont Goldcorp.
Brave investors could take on the added risk of buying individual gold mining stocks, many of which have performed wonderfully well lately.
London-listed Centamin is up more than 70 per cent in just three months, although in a sign of its volatility, it is down 5 per cent on two years ago. Trans-Siberian Gold, listed on London's alternative investment market (AIM) for small stocks, has seen its share price almost quadruple from 34p to 124p over the same period, but do not assume this kind of runaway growth can continue for long
However, buying individual equities like these is highly risky, as their share prices can crash just as quickly, which isn't what what you want from a supposedly safe haven.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Five famous companies founded by teens
There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:
- Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate.
- Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc.
- Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway.
- Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
- Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
More from Neighbourhood Watch
HEADLINE HERE
- I would recommend writing out the text in the body
- And then copy into this box
- It can be as long as you link
- But I recommend you use the bullet point function (see red square)
- Or try to keep the word count down
- Be wary of other embeds lengthy fact boxes could crash into
- That's about it
PROFILE BOX
Company name: Overwrite.ai
Founder: Ayman Alashkar
Started: Established in 2020
Based: Dubai International Financial Centre, Dubai
Sector: PropTech
Initial investment: Self-funded by founder
Funding stage: Seed funding, in talks with angel investors
TO CATCH A KILLER
Director: Damian Szifron
Stars: Shailene Woodley, Ben Mendelsohn, Ralph Ineson
Rating: 2/5
TOURNAMENT INFO
Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier
Jul 3- 14, in the Netherlands
The top two teams will qualify to play at the World T20 in the West Indies in November
UAE squad
Humaira Tasneem (captain), Chamani Seneviratne, Subha Srinivasan, Neha Sharma, Kavisha Kumari, Judit Cleetus, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Heena Hotchandani, Namita D’Souza, Ishani Senevirathne, Esha Oza, Nisha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi
Getting there and where to stay
Fly with Etihad Airways from Abu Dhabi to New York’s JFK. There's 11 flights a week and economy fares start at around Dh5,000.
Stay at The Mark Hotel on the city’s Upper East Side. Overnight stays start from $1395 per night.
Visit NYC Go, the official destination resource for New York City for all the latest events, activites and openings.
SHALASH THE IRAQI
Author: Shalash
Translator: Luke Leafgren
Pages: 352
Publisher: And Other Stories